Thundercat was originally the name of a series of snowmobile

Snowmobile

A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, or sled,is a land vehicle for winter travel on snow. Designed to be operated on snow and ice, they require no road or trail. Design variations enable some machines to operate in deep snow or forests; most are used on open terrain, including...

s produced by Arctic Cat

Arctic Cat

Arctic Cat is a North American manufacturer of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. The company was formed in 1960 and is based in Thief River Falls, MN. Many of Arctic Cat's vehicles are used today and can be accessorized to perform almost any job an outdoors-man might need...

 from 1993 to 2002, the most powerful snowmobiles of their era. In 2007, Arctic Cat re-introduced the name for a line of all-terrain vehicle

All-terrain vehicle

An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...

s.

Description

In its time the Thundercat series was considered one of the fastest and the most powerful sleds available. This is partially due to the big-bore case-reed triple cylinder engines available in 900 or 1000 cc sizes, which produced up to 175 horsepower

Horsepower

Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...

. The Thundercat has since been replaced by the ZR900 in 2003 and in 2007 was replaced by the hp F1000. The Thundercat is still considered to be the most powerful snowmobile to this day. The Arctic cat Thundercat belongs to a elite group of classic musclesleds which include the Polaris XCR 800,and the Skidoo Mach Z.

Chassis used

Thundercat 900

• 1993-1995: AWS3 chassis
• 1996-1997: AWS4 chassis

Thundercat 1000

• 1998: AWS4 chassis
• 1999-2002: AWS5 chassis

Name reuse

In July 2007, Arctic Cat revived the Thundercat name, affixing it to their new 950cc V-twin motivated ATV. Perhaps appropriately, it is the largest and most powerful ATV ever built.